When the earthquake hit Haiti, the world responded…and the U.S. responded admirably, in many ways.  The efforts to help the injured and save lives has focused on the South Florida community.  After so many years of disparate treatment between Cuban and Haitian refugees, it has been encouraging to see this compassion realized in humanitarian action.But now that the proverbial dust has settled – and despite the continuing challenges which will continue to plague Haiti — those fortunate enough to have received this compassion now face that most insidious of enemies: federal U.S. bureaucracy.  While it is clear that the U.S. can't simply "welcome all comers" and serve as the refuge for the global tide of "huddled masses, yearning to be free" prevalent…

I spent a lot of time last week at the AILA conference quietly pondering just how our immigration system got as broken as it has.  Between unresponsive bureaucrats, dogmatic policies which fly in the face of our national identity, and lawyers trying to bend the rules to the point of destroying useful immigration options through abuse, it became clear to me that nothing less than a total rewrite of existing immigration policy is needed. The current Frankenstein is, sadly, irreparable.There is a great line from the song of one of my favorite artists, Donald Fagen, of Steely Dan fame.  In his solo album debut, IGY – which, interestingly, stands for "International Geophysical Year" — the title song explores the idyllic perfection of the future he idealized as a teenager in…

Folks, just wanted to share something which is personal (as I will explain) and very meaningful to me.  As many of you know, I have been practicing a long time.  Six years ago, I sold my practice to my partner and stepped out of immigration for a few years.  When I returned to it last year, the AILA meetings were full of faces I didn't recognize, the PERM process had replaced labor cert, and, frankly, I felt a bit like an old dog concerned about new tricks. I jumped back into investment based immigration wholeheartedly last year and it's been a wild and woolly year and a half so far.  A few years back when I was still in the prior practice, I'd been named to the Legal Elite, so I was only a little surprised to hear that I'd been nominated again.&#160…

As I sat at the opening session of the American ImmigrationLawyers Association (AILA) National Convention on Thursday morning, I felt arekindling of the fire I felt when I began immigration practice.  David Leopold, AILA’s newly-installedpresident, spoke eloquently about our responsibilities as immigration attorneys,about the many masks behind which racism hides, and about our history as anation of immigrants.  I don’t know Mr. Leopold personally, but after thatpresentation of his, it sure feels like I do. The son of Holocaust survivors and as passionate an advocate as I’veseen among our ranks, it was quite apparent to me that the fire this man has inhis belly is exactly what we – AILA aswell as the United States of America – need to turn around the catastrophic in…

The 2010 National AILA seminar began at the Gaylord Convention Center in Washington, D.C’s National Harbor this morning with an inspired opening by immediate past AILA president Charles Kuck and a passionate call for comprehensive immigration reform (CIS), the subject of President Obama’s speech at American University this very morning.It’s been 7 years since I’ve been to a national AILA convention and BOY have things changed. The half dozen booth exhibits have multiplied into dozens of booths hosted by EB-5, publishers, credentialing services and the like. Instead of another 6 pound program, the 1000+ pages of materials came on a little USB drive.But the most noticeable difference is the size of the crowd. I was told at registration last night than some 2500 attendees are here…as I reca…

Information on the wonders and blessings of EB-5 ImmigrantInvestor Regional Centers and their positive impact on local economies aboundsonline…in the websites of said Regional Centers.  Unfortunately, the tale of the EB5 tape tellsa different story in many cases. Statistically speaking, there are a handful of EB-5 Regional Centerswhich can lay claim to meaningful job creation and financial impact numbers,and even the impressive figures cited by industry proponents rely largely uponthese big players.  The rest of them,well…not much going on except the marketing.If we take off our immigration attorney hats, however, thereis a bigger picture here, and one more directly relevant for the manifestationof the job creation purposes envisioned by Congress when it introduced …

The Wall Street Journal reported this morning that USCIS DirectorAlejandro Mayorkas is the person who behind the new proposed fee increases,which would take effect this summer after a public comment period.  Across the board, they raise the cost offiling petitions for permanent and temporary residency for foreignprofessionals and entrepreneurs by an average of 10%.The most commonly filed petition, which is used by UScitizens and permanent residents to petition for relatives outside of thecountry, will go up from $355-$420, an 18% increase.  The WSJ opined that an increase of $65 isunlikely to affect the filing of family petitions, and I agree.  The cost of applying for US citizenship –form N 400 — will remain at $675, since the fee went up three years ago to thetune of 69%…

…because apparently the USCIS is planning on creating a new $6,230 filing fee!  Yikes!I did a quick online search and didn't find anything but here is the Miami Herald Article re Proposed Investor VIsa Fee…

When I arrived in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in 1987 as a firsttour Foreign Service Officer, the place at which I arrived was very differentthan the war zone I visited this past December. Ciudad Juarez was already a dusty, dirty and crowded desert town andoccasional crimes made the headlines: young women who would disappear only tobe found buried in the surrounding desert; tourists would be regularly robbedat gunpoint; and, of course, the drug crime was in its comparatively nascentstage (compared to today.)  I got to ridewith the Federales on several big busts, including one we got to by helicopter,which featured all the elements of a good Tarantino script:  a desert airstrip, an abandoned farmhouse,and a ton of cocaine bricks.  Still, Juarez was a sort-of livable place.&#1…